Memory
by scullymulder
Summary: When Lois and Clark can’t remember a second of the past seven years, can they find out what’s happened? Clois, obviously. Chapter 8 up! Story complete!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Memory

Author: scullymulder1234

Summary: When Lois and Clark can't remember a second of the past seven years, can they find out what's happened?

Rating: PG-13 (for now)

Disclaimer: You think I'd be writing _fan fiction _if I owned Smallville? You gotta be kidding.

Spoilers: Season 4

Archive: Yeah, just contact me first.

**Chapter 1** (Lois POV)

A faint ringing in my ear was slowly growing louder. What in the hell was it? Feeling defeated in more ways than one that fate wouldn't allow me to sleep, I opened my eyes to the tiniest slit possible. On Clark's bedside table was phone, which practically jumping out of its cradle. When had that gotten there? Figuring the person had been calling since who knows when, I answered it.

"'Lo?" Apparently not very well, though.

"Why in the Sam Hill didn't you call me last night? You were supposed to check in!" The phone was now a foot away from my ear, and my ear drum felt about to bust.

"Riiiight….who is this?" I asked putting the phone back to my ear before whisking it away again.

"Who is this? _WHO IS THIS!_ It's your editor! You work for me!"

The phone was now an arm's length away, and I was giving it a stare that was sure to look insane.

"Uh……" I said into the phone, now at my ear, but poised to fling away again. "I think you have the wrong number."

As I flung the phone back into its cradle I heard screams of whatever emotion the guy was feeling at the time. I wasn't sympathetic. Glancing at the clock on Clark's nightstand, I saw it read 5:30. Yes, AM. I became even less unsympathetic.

I layed on that spot for another ten minutes trying desperately to get back to sleep before rolling over into something incredibly black. The moon had gone out, I decided, or I had gone spontaneously blind.

I put my hand up in front of my eyes, hoping that the latter was incorrect. I could see my hand. Obviously.

Wondering what it was, I peered over the edge of the…well, whatever it was. I saw a faint outline of what looked to be a…nose.

I squinted my eyes to see who it could possibly be when my brain put two and two together.

Who was the only person in this house to have black hair?

Clark Kent. Of course. Why wouldn't it be him? Then again, why would it?

I cringed and let my head fall to my chest, giving me an opening to notice yet another anomaly. I was naked; completely and utterly naked. I cringed yet again and looked to see whether Clark was in the same situation. Of course he was.

By this time I was surprising myself in not having a panic attack right then and there.

I quietly snuck off the bed and dressed in the clothes on the floor, and from the randomness of their positions (and that I woke up naked), I assumed that Clark and I had had sex. _Wonderful. _Smallville and me? I don't think so.

On my way out of the room, my hand on the door knob when the moon light glinted off of it; a ring. I raised it to my face. It was an honest to God marriage ring. My eyes flickered over to Smallville, who, by the way, was still asleep through all of this, and then back to the ring. Either I was married to him or having an affair with Smallville. I couldn't figure out which was worse.

The problem had become my most puzzling one at the present, Lucy included. I didn't have helluva a clue what was going on, I hated that. First, the phone call with that lunatic on the line, then waking up in the same bed as Smallville, and now this…

I sighed and resigned myself to figure it out later, but when I turned the door handle Clark's voice startled me.

"Lois? What are you doing down here and out of bed?"

I glanced at him before hiding my right hand. He (hopefully) had just woken up, and if he hadn't he played the part exceptionally. His hair was standing on end and he had an extremely tired, yet bewildered look on his face.

I fully turned to face him and said, "One, we're up in your room, and two, you're in it."

He looked down at himself, blushed, and pulled the sheet up higher on his body.

"Wh…What and I doing up here?"

I sighed. "If I knew that would I keep that from you?"

He paused for a moment, clearly thinking about it. "Yes."

"Look, Smallville, just 'cause I tease you doesn't mean I'm out to get you."

Clark stared. "Really?"

I rolled my eyes. "I thought we were friends, Clark."

He stared as if not believing that I knew his real name.

"Look, I'll go downstairs and make coffee. I know I need it and you definitely look like you do. So just get dressed and meet me down in the kitchen."

I was just at the top of the stairs when Clark came bounding out of his room with just his pants on, almost running into me and forcing me down the stairs.

"AH! What!" I asked gasping for breath.

"C'mere." He took my hand (which, by the way, was dripping with sweat from the adrenaline rush he just gave me) and dragged me into his room.

"Geez, Smallville, I didn't know you liked me this much."

Clark rolled his eyes at me and pointed to his calendar; that hadn't been there the night before either.

"What, I don't under –"

"Look at the calendar!"

I looked. It read –

"Why does the calendar read 2011 Lois? First I'm in my bed, when I'm supposed to be on the couch downstairs, and the way you were sneaking out, you woke up in the same way I did. And –" he reached down and grabbed my hand "–why do you have a wedding ring on your finger? Either we're married or having an affair. I can't figure out which is worse!"

I blinked. What was he, psychic?

"Listen, Smallville. You finish getting dressed, I'll make coffee and we'll find out what's going on, ok? Maybe your parents know something or maybe Chloe does. Ya never know."

He gave me a skeptical look, but after a beat I was on the receiving end of a conceded nod.

I started to exit the room when Clark's voice called me back.

"Lois?"

"What now, Smallville?"

"You look different."

"Uh…thanks?"

"No, I mean you look…older…more, no…less. You look less rough around the edges. You look…nice."

I stared. "Who are you and what have you done with Clark Kent?"

Clark rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Don't you take anything seriously?"

"'Course I do. Just not with you." I grinned and walked out.

**A/N: So there it is...chapter one of Memory. I've been writing this during math class, so please forgive if it seems like I wrote this when my brain was mush. 'Cause it was. Algebra is a pain in the ass. Anywho, R&R please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**(Clark POV)

The warm smell of coffee wafted up to my nose as I walked down the stairs to find my mom and dad already sitting at the kitchen table, along with Lois. It seemed my mom had already been up and made coffee. I thanked God. If Lois had tried to make coffee, she would have probably burned the house down, not to mention how horrible it would have tasted.

I waked over to the coffee maker and poured myself a mug. Once I had taken a gulp and let the caffeine seep into my system, I felt more alive and awake than I ever had after five minutes.

"Maybe I should follow Lois' advice more often," I mumbled to myself.

It took me a second to fully appreciate what I had said. "Nope, nope, definitely not. What on Earth was I thinking?"

"Talking to yourself, Smallville?"

I smiled at Lois' question. "You have no idea Lois."

When I turned I saw that Lois had her head buried in the _Daily Planet_ morning edition. My parents, on the other hand were staring at me as if they had no clue who I was.

"What'd I do?" I asked my parents bewildered faces.

"Why are you drinking coffee?" my mom asked.

"Uh…'cause I'm tired maybe?" I asked sarcastically.

"Wow, Smallville's actually got a comeback for once," Lois snarked, completely out of the blue.

I held my hands up in a questioning gesture, but Lois had already gone back to reading.

As I moved to the empty seat beside Lois, I switched my gaze back to my parents, and I noticed they were still staring.

"What!" I asked defensively.

"Clark…you haven't drank coffee since you were eighteen. And you rarely needed it then," my mom told me.

My dad chuckled "Don't be so hard on him, Martha. Our lovebirds probably had a very fatiguing night last night."

I choked on my coffee. I couldn't help it. I mean come on! How could my parents be perfectly fine with this!

While I was choking on my coffee, I noticed Lois had spewed hers all over her paper.

I looked over to my dad to see what his reaction was (he _always_ read the morning paper), but all he did was chuckle again and say, "Good thing I already read it."

My mother had a quizzical appearance on her face (what was this, happy quiz day!) and I rushed to explain our…er…_odd_ behavior. It seemed as if we were perfectly fine with this, where ever we were, and it was _now_ that we were acting odd.

"Oh, no, we wouldn't do that with you guys around."

My mom was about to reply when my dad cut in.

"Son, we were in Metropolis last night. We just got back this morning." My dad chuckled again. I hadn't seen him this happy in years. "And besides, it's perfectly normal for couples to have sex. Trust me, I know."

I was on the verge of choking again (Lois looked that way, too) when my super hearing zeroed in on two cell phones ringing upstairs in my bedroom. I didn't recognize either ring, so figuring either weren't mine, I sat there staring into my mug until –

"Clark, Lois, aren't you guys going to answer those?" my dad asked. (It appearing my hearing hadn't been turned on as I thought it had.)

But I never got the chance.

Both Lois and I had gotten up from the table, and when I turned to let Lois pass me, my hand slipped to the small of her back. I felt a fleet sense of déjà vu, but before I could delve any further in the matter, Lois pitched forward onto the floor, her hands clutched to her head, her face screwed up in a look of pain.

I collapsed beside her, frantic.

"Lois? Lois, come on." I shifted her rigid body so that she was cradled in my lap. I supported her head with my hands, running over all the possibilities. Could Geoff's paralysis power still be affecting her? Maybe something had happened in the tractor trailer that I didn't know about. But we were supposed to be in 2011, so they wouldn't have taken six years to reoccur…would they?

I banished all this from my head for the time being and turned all my attention toward Lois. I hadn't noticed until now, albeit her pain stricken face, how truly beautiful she was.

Her hair was draped over her eyes, and as I went to move it, my hand brushed against her cheek and suddenly I wasn't seeing her face anymore.

I was in a library that was completely deserted except for the table next to me where three people, a guy and two girls, were sitting. The guy had black hair; the taller girl had light brown hair, while the shorter girl had hair identical to Chloe's.

Speaking of Chloe…I turned to I could see the blonde's face. It _was _Chloe. Or, at least someone who looked like her down her last eyelash.

"Hey Smallville."

"Lois?" I frowned and turned. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"So you don't know?"

"All I know is that we're here and we're there, but older." She pointed to the people. "Oh, and they can't hear us. I tried that."

"Ok…so what now? And you do realize that Chloe's here, right?"

"Of course I do. I just said that."

"No, you didn't. You said we were there, also, implying that it was just me and you."

"Smallville, she's my cousin. Of course I'm gonna notice her. God, you're so annoying."

There was a lapse in our conversation for a few minutes until I asked – "So you don't know why we're here?"

"Geez, Smallville, what are you, a broken record? You just asked that."

"No, I asked why _you_ were here."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, despite the wording change to annoy me, I still don't know.

I turned my back on her and turned my attention back to the trio sitting at the table.

"So….maybe….we're in an alternate universe?" I speculated.

"Maybe," Lois said. "Or maybe someone's showing us what we're gonna miss…."

Lois and I paused to think about what she said. Then we both said together – "Nah."

We turned our attention back to…well…us. They had stopped working and were now laughing silently, due to the fact that there was no sound. It was overwhelming.

Lois and I shared a companionable silence for another five minutes (which was rare in itself, as one of was _always_ talking, it seemed).

Then –

"No, no, Chloe that's not it at all!"

My eyes widened (and when I glanced over at Lois, I saw her eyes were narrowed). Why had the sound chosen to come on at this random time?

"No, I promise Clark! That's exactly how it went!"

The older Lois laughed again and started to gather her papers and proceeded to stuff them into her backpack and said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow. I've got an eight o'clock class tomorrow."

Both Chloe and I said bye as she walked out.

As the library door closed behind her, the other Clark picked a piece of paper off of the floor that had been on Lois' side of the table.

"I'm gonna go run this to Lois," he told Chloe, who was already immersed in her text book again.

Her only response was a 'Mmm' and as soon as she did, he started to run for the exit.

"C'mon!" Lois said from behind me, grabbing my shirt sleeve and pulling from behind me.

"Lois, what?"

"Well, Chloe's just gonna sit there, isn't she? And besides, we need to follow _us. _That'll probably be where _we're_ supposed to be."

As I was about to respond, I heard Chloe mutter something significantly like 'hormonal'. I didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

But oh boy was I about to find out.

Lois and I burst into the hall just behind the alternate me. To our surprise the older Lois was waiting for us…him…oh, whatever.

"Hey," she greeted the other Clark, as she took the paper from him. "What took you so long?"

"It didn't _really_ take me that long."

"Yeah, I know. We just haven't had time alone in a couple of days."

Time alone! He stepped closer to her, forcing her to back up against the wall. He lowered his head to hers. My eyes opened to the size of saucers and my mouth was open in a horrificized expression. I was momentarily distracted (thank God!) by a gagging sound next to me, and when I turned to see what it was, I saw Lois struggling not to throw up.

I came back into the pair's conversation just as Lois' hand grabbed Clark's collar, which put their faces even closer, if that was even possible.

"You talk too much," she whispered to him. _Now_ I knew what Chloe had been talking about.

It looked as if they were about to make out (in which, I would have gagged, and Lois really would have thrown up) when the door behind us eased open and the other Lois and the other me sprang apart. They hurriedly fixed their clothes into a normal position before the door had even opened fully. It looked as if they did this everyday; a fact that scared me.

Chloe appeared from behind the door, a book in one hand, a cell phone in the other. She stuck a hand out blindly, but somehow managed to get it into Clark's hand in a matter of seconds.

"Pete's on the phone," she told him before slipping back into the room full of books.

Clark gave his Lois a look that I couldn't read and raised the phone to his ear.

"Hey Pete," he said into the phone, still looking at his Lois. "Yeah, sure, no problem. Yeah, we'll just fly down there." My eyes widened. I could fly? "I need to pay my parents a visit anyway. Sure thing, Pete. Yeah, see ya."

"What'd Pete want?" his Lois asked after the other Clark had hung up.

"To see if we could baby-sit this weekend." Pete had a kid?

"Clark, you know I'm not good with kids."

"Yeah, well I figured since that we're getting married soon, you could use the practice," he said, twisting an engagement ring that was on Lois' finger.

"Are we having kids anytime soon?"

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Then why do I need the practice?"

"Yeah, well, accidents do happen," Clark said, waggling his eyes suggestively.

"Cool it, Macho; we don't even know if you can have kids yet."

His mood immediately sobered. "Yeah, I know."

"Oh, God, Clark, I'm sorry," she said as she drew him into a hug. "That was insensitive of me."

"Don't worry about it, Lo'."

Everything was silent for a few minutes until my Lois asked, "You think we should know the date or something?"

"Why? If this is an alternate –"

"I don't think it is."

"Then what is it?"

"I think we're stuck in the future, and seeing our future selves past."

"And how does that make sense?"

"When has anything in Smallville made sense?"

I gave her a defeated nod.

She grinned and asked, "So now you know I'm right, how are we going to find a date?"

"Well…we could always ask the next person who walks by."

Lois rolled her eyes. "God Smallville, I didn't know how smart you were until now."

"Ok, fine, Lois. I'll try and act mature."

"Thank you. Now, where are we going to find that date?"

"Do you put the date on your school papers?"

"Yeah, why?"

I zoomed in on Lois' writing on her school paper. Just under her name and class (which, to my surprise, was journalism) was the date.

"Because," I said, replying to her question, "It says January 6th, 2008."

Lois looked at me with a vaguely impressed look on her face.

"What?"

"You can see that far?"

"Uh…yeah…"

"What'd you do, eat a whole carrot garden?"

"Uh…something like that…"

I was grateful when all Lois said was a 'Huh' and let it drop at that.

The couple in front of us finally loosened their grip on each other and Clark buried his head in his fiancée's hair.

"Thanks Lois," he said. "I love you."

Lois smiled. "Love you too, Smallville. Walk me to the door?"

It was my alternate's turn to smile, although it looked a little strained. "Absolutely."

He slipped his hand into Lois' and walked her to the end of the hall where the door leading to the outside was. He hugged her again briefly before opening the door to the outside.

"Love you, Lois."

Lois frowned quickly, but covered it up with a smile. "Love you too, Smallville."

He quickly pecked her on the cheek and placed his hand on the small of her back as she walked out of the hall.

Everything started to fade as I watched him brace himself against the wall. While he slid down the wall, I watched him sigh and run his hands through his hair before everything faded to white.

My vision came back to see hair. Light brown hair. I raised my head an inch to see who it belonged to.

It was Lois'. All I needed to know now was if we were naked.

Before I had a chance to find out Chloe's voice startled me into full alertness. Then I noticed that we were in Smallville General Hospital, and that I was sitting in a chair next to Chloe, and thankfully, not naked.

"Hey, you're awake."

"Hey Chloe."

My eyes darted down to her stomach. It was unusually swollen…my eyes widened as I realized that she was pregnant.

My eyes were drawn back up to her face when she said, "Everything's fine. The doctors don't even know what caused her to collapse like that, but they do know that Lois and the baby will be fine."

My eyes expanded to the size of watermelons and Lois' hoarse voice behind me asked the question I was too freaked out to ask.

"Baby?"

**A/N: WOW! I managed it! Woot woot! So there's chapter 2. It took up 8 pages on word, and I actually liked this story…I would do personal thanks to my reviewers, but it's like 11 where I'm at and I'm about to fall asleep. So thanks to all that reviewed, and if you've got any questions, feel free to ask! Oh, and another note, when Clark is talking to Lois in the previous chapter about the calendar, it is supposed to say 'Why does the calendar read 2011, Lois?' but it didn't.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3(Lois POV)

Oh God, please let Chloe by lying. Please let her burst out laughing and yell, "Gotcha!"

Ten to one she wasn't going to; ten to one it wasn't going to happen.

And _why_ was it that I was always right!

Ignoring both Clark's and my horrified stares, Chloe waved her hand dismissively.

"Of course you guys wouldn't know! You didn't even think you could have kids! Isn't this great! I'm gonna be an aunt!"

Clark and I, for the first time in our lives, couldn't find anything to say.

Over a silent stretch of about thirty seconds, Chloe's face changed from radiant to puzzled.

"Are you guys ok? I thought you'd be happier. You've wanted kids for ages."

Clark's gaze flickered to me and then back to Chloe before standing up and walking over to and jerking open the hospital door.

"Chloe, could you excuse Lois and I for a few minutes? We have a few things to discuss."

Chloe frowned in confusion. "Uh…sure." She stood up heavily, waddled over to the door, and giving us a last suspicious glance, eased the door shut behind her.

I collapsed back onto the five or so pillows that were behind my head.

"Oh, God, Smallville, what're we gonna do?"

"I dunno," he said as he sighed and settled into the plastic chair he had previously been sitting in. "I just wanna know how we got here and how we're gonna deal with this.

"Well…I was probably brought in on an ambulance, considering I'm the one in the bed." I had _no_ idea what I was talking about.

Clark's brow furrowed in concentration. "So maybe…the person not recieiving collapsing in pain because of the vision acts normal…or how they're supposed to act?"

Clark apparently didn't have a clue what he was talking about either, and in some sick, demented way, that made me feel better.

"Should we tell Chloe?"

Clark sighed again. "I dunno. What do you think?"

"You're asking my opinion? Wow. Very mature of you, Smallville."

"Well?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah…I think we should tell her."

"Ok," he said as he got up and walked over to the door.

"Wait!"

He turned to face me with an amused expression on his face. "What?"

"That's it? No 'I don't think we should' or 'That doesn't sound like a good plan?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because I agree with you."

I stared.

Clark grinned as he opened the door, "Miracles do happen, Lois."

When Clark had opened the door half-way, Chloe tumbled in on him.

She straightened up quickly, hastily fixing her clothes.

"What's wrong with you guys? You're not acting normal. You're not gonna get a divorce, are you?"

I _really_ didn't want to answer that right now, and from the look on Smallville's face, neither did he.

"Chlo, pull up a chair, will 'ya?" I asked her.

As she did, I rearranged my pillows so I sat up taller.

"Chlo, it's not our marital status that Smallville and I need to talk to you about…It's that…well, we don't…" I paused and looked to Clark for some backup. When all I got was an encouraging nod (which was _not_ what I was going for), I continued. "We don't…remember anything."

Chloe frowned. "Anything of what?"

_Finally_ Farmboy stepped in. "Anything of the last six years, give or take a few months."

Chloe choked. "What!"

Clark sighed. "We don't remember –"

"I heard you the first time!" Chloe snapped.

"Ok, ok," Clark said, throwing up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"So…" I asked, albeit hesitantly, "You believe us?"

"Of course I believe you! If you guys were acting normal, you'd be ecstatic to know that you guys were going to be parents! God knows you've tried!"

I blanched. That was _so_ incredibly nasty, and being the disgusting perverted teenager that I was, an onslaught of disturbing images flashed through my head.

Clark, however, looked worse off than me, as he was beating his head with his fists.

"Geez, Smallville! What're you trying to do, smash your head in?"

"No, he replied, stopping long enough from beating himself to give me a venomous look and said, "I'm trying to get you and this morning out of my head."

"Oh, God," Chloe said while rolling her eyes, "I forgot how much you guys got on each others' nerves when you were eighteen."

"Seventeen."

"Nineteen."

"Yeah," Chloe said, rolling her eyes again. "See what I mean? You guys were constantly at each others' throats back then…now….oh, you know what I mean."

We sat in silence for another five minutes, each trying to figure out the present situation.

"Hey, Chlo? How old are we?"

"Why?"

"Well…I dunno, maybe we have a job, or are we still in college? And Clark mentioned that I looked different….and he looks older a little bit…I was just curious, was all."

Chloe smiled. "We all three work at the _Daily Planet_, so you're out of college. Clark just had his 24th birthday, so you'll be 26 in about six months. So, yeah, I guess you would look older if you're stuck in your older counterparts bodies."

"So then are they stuck in ours?"

Chloe shrugged. "How am I supposed to know, Lois?"

"I dunno." Turning to Clark I asked, "If we're in our older counterparts bodies, why the vision?"

He shrugged. "Maybe it's permanent? Maybe there's no way we can go back, so some cosmic force is filling us in on our lives so we're not completely clueless, or maybe –"

Clark cut off in the middle of his sentence and cocked his head towards the door.

"What do you hear, Clark?" Chloe asked, edging up on her chair.

"Lex…he's at the end of the hall and –"

Chloe had lept up off her chair with amazing speed and agility for a pregnant woman, and hastily locked the door, closed the blinds, and turned out the room lights.

"Chloe, what?"

"Shut up!" Chloe hissed.

So we did.

A whole five minutes passed as we waited with baited breath (with Clark and I not knowing why) as the knob rattled, a shadow passed by the blinds, and a voice, Lex's voice, asking if anyone was 'in there'.

When he was finally gone, Chloe sighed, flicked back on the lights and receded back to her chair.

"Wow, Chlo, you move fast for a fat woman."

"Oh, shut up. You'll be as fat as me in a few months."

I sighed and settled myself back into the pillows. I _really_ didn't want to think about that now. I mean, me, pregnant? No, not a chance. Yet, here I was. Pregnant. Guess there was a chance. And it was all Farmboy's fault.

I turned to tell him this, but the expression on his face stopped me.

He looked as if he couldn't breathe, and his eyeballs were popping out of his head. The odd thing was, tough, that he was staring at Chloe.

"Hey, Smallville, breathe," I said.

I turned to Chloe to see her reaction to all this, but she conveniently was picking lint off of her pants.

"How'd you know?" Clark finally choked out.

"Know what?" I knew Chloe was lying, and I didn't have a clue what they were talking about.

"How'd you know…my…you know."

"No, I can't say that I do."

"Oh, come on, Chloe! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Do I though?"

"Yes! Of course you do!"

"Oh, shut up, both of you! Now, what the hell are you talking about?" I asked, frustrated.

"Clark's super hearing, that's what!"

There was a silence all of ten seconds until I burst out in laughter. "That's good, Chloe, that's real good!"

Seeing their disturbingly serious faces, my laughter died away.

"You're not kidding, are you?"

Chloe grimaced and shot a fleeting glance at Clark, whose face was steadily growing redder, and then back to me again.

She gulped. "Oh shit."

I took that as a 'no'.

A/N: Wow that was a long time coming….anyway, hope you guys enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4(Clark POV)

Four hours and 1500 roll of the eyes later Lois was certain that I had other 'talents' as she called them, and Chloe and I couldn't dissuade her from thinking so; as a result, we just gave up.

Chloe had left a half hour ago to tell my parents the 'good' news and to get my glasses.

Glasses? I didn't ask.

Lois, at present, was channel surfing on the hospital TV, an act that was grating on my nerves.

She clicked past the news channel and I caught a glimpse of the farm.

"Wait!" I said as I grabbed the remote from her hand and flicked back to the station number.

"Hey! No fair taking advantage of a cripple!"

"You're not a cripple, so shut up," I snapped at her as I reached the station.

She 'humphed' as the announcer's voice reached a reasonable hearing level as I clicked the volume higher.

'And Lois Lane-Kent, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, and wife to her partner at the Daily Planet, Clark Kent, were seen climbing into the back of an ambulance earlier this morning - " - the screen changed from the newscaster's face to the hospital - " - and were taken to Smallville General, the local hospital, earlier this morning, where they are still...And back in Metropolis...'

The newscaster's voice died away as I clicked the volume down to low.

Lois put her head in her hands. "The whole world knows I'm married to you? Oh God."

I ignored her. "Maybe I should go see Lex. He has scientists who might be able to figure this sort of thing out."

Lois frowned as if apprehensive.

"What?"

"Well... I don't think you should."

"And why not?"

"Remember Chloe's reaction when you said Lex was at the end of the hall? Do you think she'd act that way if something wasn't wrong with the guy?"

"Probably her dad's paranoia finally got to her, is all."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Chloe is her own person, Clark. Just because Uncle Gabe doesn't have a soft sport in her heart for the Luthor's doesn't mean that Chloe has to follow in his footsteps, does it?"

"Yeah, well," I said as I stood up. "I'm going anyway. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, would that be the invincibility, strength, or speed?"

I stopped cold, my back turned to her, hand halfway toe the door knob.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't, Farmboy."

I stayed silent as she continued.

"It wasn't too terribly hard to figure out, especially after Chloe let it slip about your unique ability to hear incredibly far behind closed doors, but everything after that kind of fell into place."

"Yeah, well, if you start from a false premise, you draw a false conclusion."

"That's true, but not in this case."

"You can think what you want, Lois," I said as I opened the door.

"Wait, Clark, please," her voice was pleading now. "Look, I know I get on your nerves, but please, listen, ok?"

I nodded.

"I know you can be hurt. Remember the psycho surgeon lady? And the green mist? _I_ had to save _you_ from that, remember? Or have you conveniently forgotten? And why does the green mist vaguely remind me of that meteor rock Chloe rants about? Oh, and when you had amnesia, and you picked me up, did you think I'd forget about that?"

Damn, she was quick.

"But, you know," she continued, "its cool. You haven't gone all homicidal on my like all the other Meteor People."

I think she made a point to say 'people' instead of 'freaks'.

"And you've lasted longer than them, so that tells me that you either stick to your own business, or you get intimately involved, fight them, win, and save a few lives on the way. Either option leaves me with a pretty ok guy."

"Leaves _you_ with a pretty ok guy? Since when do _you_ have _me_ in anything?"

I snapped at her. Why did I have to snap at her? I had finally found someone who was ok with my secret, and I had to get defensive.

I heard the bed creak behind me, and a few footsteps later Lois had her hand on my shoulder.

"Please, Clark. If you married me, then there must have been a part of you that loved me. And a person usually listens to someone they love, right? Or am I wrong there?"

My shoulders slumped as I turned to her.

"You know you guilted me into this, right?"

She grinned. "That was my plan. I couldn't possibly see you and I married in a million years."

"You stubborn, opinioned, bull-headed woman."

She grinned again. "Thanks. I try."

She receded back to her bed as I tried to settle back into my chair.

I was about to the point of pushing Lois off the hospital bed and laying on it myself when the door opened and a doctor came in.

"Mrs. Kent?"

It took Lois a few second to fully comprehend that the doctor was addressing her.

"Uh...yes?"

"If you and your husband sign here - " he held out a clipboard with a form on it - " - then you're free to go."

She almost tackled the poor guy in her rush to get ht form and stuck her hand in his shocked face.

"Pen?"

He fumbled with his coat pocket before dropping a pen into her waiting hand.

She scrawled her name on the form before shoving it all at me.

"I'm gonna go get dressed," she said before walking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

The doctor - Dr. Dawson - looked at me as if I must have been craze to marry the woman. I think I must have been, too.

"Sorry. She doesn't like hospitals."

He rolled his eyes as I handed him the completed form. "I had no idea."

He exited the room just as Lois stepped out of the bathroom, and he cast me one last sympathetic look before disappearing from sight.

"C'mon, Smallville," she said, completely ignoring the doctor. "Let's go."

I was at the elevator trying to be patient, but I standing behind Lois who was pressing the down button every five seconds; it was incredibly hard to do.

As her arm reached out to push the button again, mine shot out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her just in time to save the button from another hell.

She looked up at me with a mildly annoyed expression on her face. "What?"

"Stop."

She jerked her hand away from mine.

"What I do is my concern, not yours."

"It is when I'm being annoyed by it."

She put her hand on her hips and turned to me, her expression defiant, but she didn't say anything as I had expected her to.

I matched her defiance as I crossed my arms and turned to face her as she had done to my five seconds earlier.

We stood like that, staring into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, until the elevator made a coughing sound.

Wait...the elevator coughed?

Lois' head and mine spun toward the elevator at the same time to see Chloe leaning on the back on the elevator smirking.

"Hey, CK, that's my wife," a voice said. I turned my head towards the sound, next to Chloe. "You already got one. Stare at her."

I couldn't believe my eyes. Chloe had married _him_! "Bart!"

He grinned. "The one and only."

"You married him!" I asked, my gaze darting from Chloe and then back to Bart again.

Chloe shrugged. "You married her, didn't you?"

"Hey," I said, pointing an accusatory finger towards her. "You can't use things against me that I've already done that I have no clue I did."

Lois slapped me on the arm. "Way to go, Einstein!"

I gave her a bewildered stare. "What'd I do?"

"He might not know," Lois said, tossing her head in Bart's direction.

"No, it's ok," Chloe said. "He knows."

"You told him!"

Lois slapped me on the arm...again. "She married him, didn't she? She's gonna trust him enough to tell him!"

Chloe rolled her eyes again. "God, you guys were such a nightmare at this age."

When we continued to stare angrily at one another for a few more seconds she asked, "Are you guys getting in?"

I stepped in, still scowling, and I felt Lois do the same behind me.

Either Chloe's SUV was incredibly small, or I'd grown even more in the past few years.

Chloe was driving and Lois had gotten the passenger seat, leaving Bart and I stuck with the smaller seats.

We had been on the road for maybe ten minutes, and Chloe and Bart, thankfully, didn't try and make conversation. I, no, we, rather had too much on our minds.

And as much as I thought about the whole 'I'm not in my time' scenario, the more confused I became. No, not just confused. I was to the point of beating my head against something that even I couldn't break.

And when I was on the verge of asking Chloe how and when she had known my secret, Lois' voice burst out.

"Pull over!"

Chloe stared at her. "What?"

"Pull over, damnit!"

Chloe did so, screeching to a halt on the shoulder of the road.

As soon as she stopped, Lois fell out of the car, and a few seconds later, retching noises met my ears.

Chloe groaned and leaned her head against the steering wheel. "God, I hated morning sickness."

I exited the car and walked over to Lois. She had stopped throwing up, but her head was held in her shaking hands as she braced herself against the vehicle.

I knelt beside her.

"I'm not sure I can do this, Clark."

I frowned. "Do what?"

"I'm pregnant," Lois said. "How could you forget that?"

I'd never heard her voice so defeated before.

"Oh, right."

I _had_ forgotten, but hopefully she didn't think so. I certainly wasn't going to tell her.

Besides, when did I actually have time to think about it? First I had found out that I was going to be a dad, then the whole Lex episode, then I found out that Chloe knew I was a strange visitor from another planet, which resulted in Chloe and I trying to convince Lois that I wasn't who she thought I was, and then I found out that even though we couldn't dissuade her from thinking so, she was still ok with it.

Only now, with Lois about to have a panic attack, did I fully realize that I was going to be a parent; a dad.

I collapsed back onto the car's closed door. Crap. This was _not_ good.

"You did forget!" Lois snapped accusingly before getting up and stalking off into a nearby field of corn.

I stared after her. What the heck was all that about?

"She blames you."

I frowned as I turned my head. I hadn't even heard Chloe come up.

"What?" I asked as I righted myself.

"She blames you for getting her pregnant."

"But that wasn't even me!"

"And she knows that."

"Then _why_ does she blame me?"

"Hormones."

I stared. Hormones made you crazy?

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You don't know what hormones are, Clark, so don't presume to."

"I do so know what they are!"

"No, you get urges to have sex. That is _so_ not the same thing."

I was about to ask her what was so different when she spoke again.

"No, don't ask how they're different. It'll take years. What you _do_ need to do is go talk to Lois. Not me and not anybody else. You. What to know why?"

What was she, psychic?

"Because in her mind, it's your fault, and no one, right not at least, is going to change her mind except you."

"But - "

"No but's, go."

I hesitated.

"Go," she softly repeated.

Again, for the second time that day, a strong sense of déjà vu hit me. Except this time, a sharp pain in my head followed it.

Holding my head, I fell to my knees, holding onto consciousness long enough to hear Chloe's scream for Lois before my world fell into darkness.

A/N: Grrr...I was going to update this a couplenights ago, but my dad kicked me off...sorry guys! Anyway, I hope you like it! And Chapter five will probably be a shorter wait because I've already got about a page written in it.  
Remember, Review is KEY!

Oh, and somebody said they were confused…..you're supposed to be…..

And Lana? She'll probably appear, but I'm not sure.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5(Lois POV)

"Lois!"

Chloe's scream cut through the field of corn that I had enveloped myself in, halting my inflamed steps.

"Lois!"

At Chloe's second scream I turned and started running, the corn whipping at my face.

I burst the field to see Chloe and her husband knelt over Clark. Bart said something to the effect of 'I'm gonna go get Lantern', and he disappeared from sight with a whoosh. It seemed an attraction towards 'unique' men ran in the family.

"Chloe, what's wrong?"

She glanced back up at me, then back at Clark.

"I don't know. I just told him to go talk to and he collapsed."

I frowned and trotted over to them and knelt beside Clark.

"I'm going to call Martha and Jonathan and tell them we're gonna be a few minutes late."

She got up, walked over to her SUV, and pulled out her cell.

I turned my attention back to Clark.

The truth was, this boy had captivated me from the beginning. I was fascinated that someone so naïve, someone so innocent could be unscarred by a world like today's.

But then again, with all I had recently learned about him, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he just hid his pain…like me.

I could see how Chloe had loved him. I could fall in love with him. Easily. Maybe I already had.

But I still couldn't see myself married to him. Yet, again, here I was. Married _and_ pregnant.

Oh joy.

The sun glinted off something Clark's left hand.

His wedding ring.

I bent to examine it, but as soon as my hand touched his, what I was seeing changed.

Completely.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I was in a courtyard. A very familiar courtyard. It looked a lot like…no it _was_ one of Met U's courtyards. In fact, it was the one where I'd eaten lunch almost everyday.

And though I couldn't hear it (again), it was bustling with activity; with students eating lunch, doing homework, talking, and cramming for the mid-terms they didn't know they had until five minutes ago. But there wasn't anyone I recognized anywhere.

It had become a daily ritual for me to quiz myself at lunch to see how many people I could distinguish from one day to the next, and for the whole month I had been there, towards the end of it, I could identify seven eighths of the people that stepped into that courtyard.

But I couldn't today, and I didn't think that a month or so would erase that.

So maybe this was another vision where Clark and I saw ourselves in the future? Again, though?

I hoped to God we wouldn't have to see another ghastly make-out session. That had been disgusting, and their lips hadn't even touched. Besides, my stomach was already queasy, and with the added sickness that it had caused earlier, I didn't think I would not be able to throw up.

Two figures emerged from the building in front me, backpacks slung over their shoulders – Chloe and Clark. They looked younger, maybe a year or two so than this morning.

All of a sudden, the sound snapped on, startling me. The courtyard had a volume level of a dull roar.

My attention was brought back to Clark and Chloe, and about five seconds after they had exited the building, my Clark came bursting out behind them.

Wait…since when was he mine?

I shook my head clear of those unsettling thoughts, just as Clark approached me.

"Hey."

"Hey," I said. "How come you came out over there? And where's my counterpart?"

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know the answer to the first one, but you're over there." He pointed just over my shoulder.

I had turned when Clark (the other one) and Chloe stepped two steps in front of me, blocking my view from myself.

"He's bothering her again, Chloe." Clark's voice was territorial. _Wonderful._

Chloe sighed. "He's not bothering her, Clark. He's her boyfriend."

"He's bothering her."

Chloe groaned out of defeat. "Clark, when will you ever get it through you thick head that she _likes_ him, and that's why she's dating him?"

"Yeah, well, she should like me."

"Clark, we've talked about this. You've never made a move! Even if she does like you, she's going to have it in her head that you don't," Chloe said, without a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Clark ignored Chloe and shouldered past her, leaving the blonde to stare after him in defeat as he walked towards his Lois and her boyfriend.

When Clark moved enough for me to see, my eyes laid on my older version sitting at the exact table I sat at to eat my lunch every day when I still attended here. Her focus was on a notebook, with her scrawling a word every now and then. She would pause to glance up every so often at the man sitting next to her long enough for her to nod before looking back to her notebook again.

I frowned. I was interested in _this_ guy? Granted, I had no clue what he was like, but he had nothing on my Clark's looks, let alone the older one's.

……

Wait…why was I comparing _anyone_ with Clark?

Seeing that my Clark had moved up by himself (boy, this was getting confusing) I followed, trying desperately to forget my disturbing thoughts.

I drew even with my Clark (again, how was me he mine!) just in time to hear the other Clark's start of one _very_ tense conversation.

"Hi Lois," Clark said, his voice almost to a growl.

Lois looked up, startled, but upon realizing who it was, she smiled.

"Hey, Clark. I haven't seen you or Chlo' in a while."

"Yeah, that's a little odd for best friends, don't you think?"

Lois frowned and put down her pen. "Clark, what's wrong?"

He glanced at the guy standing near Lois then back to her before replying.

"Chloe and I feel a little neglected since you've been with Tod all this time."

Behind me Chloe groaned and I heard her mutter something to the effect of 'No, don't you dare drag me into this.'

My grin in response to Chloe's remark died as Tod spoke.

"Well, that's a given."

Clark tensed and turned to him.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Tod flashed him a grin, and raised his voice as if Clark were hard of hearing. As if.

"I said, 'well, that's – "

"I heard what you said!" Clark snapped.

Tod nodded as if understanding something for the first time.

"So you didn't understand?"

"I understood what you said," Clark growled. "But what I don't understand is what gave you the right to say it!"

Tod moved over to Lois and put his arm around her shoulders' Clark's tensed up, his fists clenched, and his head fell downward in an effort to contain his anger.

"I have the right because I'm her boyfriend. I've become more important than you."

I glanced at my Clark to see that his position was similar to that of his counterparts'.

I frowned. Why would he care that deeply about what kind of boyfriend I had? Resigning myself to ask him once what had come out of this 'blast from the past', I forced my attention back to the ground zero of global tension just in time to hear Tod speak again.

"So, Clark, now that I know my place, and you know yours, whaddya say we call a truce?"

When no response came from Clark, Tod got up from his place by Lois and walked over to him.

"Hey, Clark," he said, his hand clasping Clark's shoulder, "how about that truce, huh?"

Clark's reply was so soft that it barely reached my ears.

"Don't touch me, Bryce."

Tod laughed. "Oh, are we reverting to last names now, Kent? Hate me that much, do you?"

But instead of taking his hand off of Clark's shoulder he just gripped it tighter and leaned his face closer to Clark's.

"Make no mistake, Kent. I am stronger than you, smarter than you, and much, much more important than you."

Apparently that was the last straw. Clark reacted so fast that all I saw was Tod leaning into Clark's face, grinning, and then Clark holding Tod up in the air by his collar.

"You think you're more important that me, Bryce? Well you're wrong! I am more important than your puny peanut-sized brain will ever be able to comprehend!"

By this time, the courtyard was emptying faster than a school out for summer, no stupid eager to get in trouble to be around when a fight occurred.

Clark drew his fist back in an attempt to punch Tod (one that would have probably killed him) when the object of their fight appeared by his side.

"Clark, put him down."

He glanced at Lois before looking back at Tod again.

"Why should I?"

"You could kill him."

"So?"

"It's wrong, Clark."

"I know that, but right now I don't really care."

"Then you're no better than he is."

His head turned slowly toward Lois.

"What would you care?"

She stepped closer to him, placing her hand on his bicep.

"You're my best friend, Clark. I will _always_ care."

He looked to Tod, then Lois, and then back to Tod again before fully setting him down.

He must have expected for Lois to go see if Bryce was ok, because as soon as Tod's feet touched the ground, Clark stepped back.

But even as Tod crumpled to the ground in a dead faint, Lois ignored him.

"Clark – "

"No, Lois, I need to ask you something."

"Wh – "

"What has Superman ever done for you?" Who in the hell was Superman?

Lois stared blankly at him.

"I mean, really, what has Superman, or Clark Kent for that matter, ever done for you?"

Lois gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing something similar to a fish.

His shoulder's slumped ever farther if that was even possible.

"You see? I've never done anything for you. I don't deserve you friendship, let alone anything else."

He stepped up to Lois and cupped her head in his hands.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

His lips touched her forehead before he became a momentary blur, whisking himself away to God knows where.

Lois had tears in her eyes as she looked in the direction that he had run off in.

"Clark…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A half an hour later I was sitting in my counterpart's car, my finger's tapping impatiently on my thigh.

I had to hand it to the girl, though. She hadn't even cried after Clark had left, when I probably would have, but that would only be due to my _extremely_ over charged hormonal state.

Aw, who was I kidding? But my Clark had run after his older self, so when I turned to talk to him after his older self ran off…well, let's say I felt a little abandoned.

But anyway, it was really the exact opposite of my current state. She had, after he had woken up, told Tod not to come around anymore and apologized to Chloe for 'being such an ass the last month'. Then she had gotten in her care with the intention of finding Clark.

So far, she hadn't looked anywhere.

In the month that I had left Metropolis, (or six years, depending on how you wanted to look at it) I didn't think that it was possible that I could forget the contrast between city and small town traffic.

It seems Smallville had grown on me. In more ways than one.

Lois had finally flicked on her turn signal, and she guided the car left into an apartment complex parking lot.

I thought she would get out right away, but all she did was grab her cell phone out of her purse and dialed a number, not even bothering to put it to her ear.

Her attention switched from her phone to a window in the complex on the second floor.

And sure enough, five seconds later, a figure appeared by the window, picked up his own phone before ending the call and placing it down again on the table it had been previously sitting on.

Ah, the wonders of cell phone caller ID. It seemed I got smarter every day.

The woman beside me smiled, pocketed her phone and exited the car.

She walked to the door, opened it, and turned to her right, taking the flight of stairs, rather than the elevator.

A door we passed (I was following her) was open, and I glanced quickly inside.

"Clark?"

The seventeen year old Clark Kent looked up toward the door.

"Lois! How'd you get here?"

I jerked my head toward the hall.

"'I' just walked by. We drove in her car. How'd you get here?"

Clark shrugged. "I just felt myself follow him."

There was a momentary lull in the conversation until Smallville asked, "Why do you think you older version walked by the door? You'd think if they were best friends she's know where his apartment was."

I shrugged. "Maybe she needed time to collect her thoughts."

"Yeah, well, it appears she's done," he said, nodding towards the door.

At that point all conversation ceased and our attention was turned towards the other people in the room.

"We need to talk," Lois said to her Clark, who was looking out the window.

"Lois."

"So I'm told."

"I thought I made it clear I didn't want to talk to you."

"You did."

"Then why are you here?"

"To answer your question."

"What question?"

"The one you asked out of desperation, and I quote: 'What has Superman, or Clark Kent for that matter done for you?'"

"Oh."

"Clark, in a world so easily embraced by cynicism, despair, and greed, Superman has taught me that humankind is still capable of greatness."

When Clark didn't respond, she sighed and continued.

"I want to explain my actions over the past month. The reason I dated Tod is because he reminded me, under all that arrogance and false superiority, of someone I loved. Love, actually. And whenever I was around Tod, I felt loved _by_ that person, even when I believed he really didn't love me. But after today, I changed my mind. I thought that he wouldn't go to the trouble of sacrificing his whole education of he didn't love me."

"And who was it?" Clark's voice was the definition of anguish.

Lois chuckled. "God, Clark, if you can't figure that out, then you don't deserve the Masters in Journalism you're working towards."

Clark slowly turned to her; you could literally see him sorting all the blocks in the right places.

"It's me?"

Lois grinned. "Which brings me to the second part of your question. 'What has Clark Kent done for you?'"

He stepped closer to her and loosely wrapped his arms around her waist.

"And what has he done for you?"

She inched her face up closer to his, so that they were only a breath apart.

"Clark Kent has taught me that it is ok to love."

He grinned and hesitantly lowered his lips to hers, stopping only long enough to look into her eyes for permission.

Their kiss wasn't anything like this morning's. It was pure, raw, and bled month's worth of unresolved sexual tension.

I heard Lois whimper in his mouth just before he jerked his head back from hers, throwing his head towards the window.

"What, Clark?"

"Sirens."

Lois sighed. "Go, we can continue this another time."

He looked hesitantly between the window and her.

"Go," she softly repeated.

The last thing I remembered was Clark spinning into some material made of blue, red, and yellow, before everything faded to white.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I woke up to a flannel shirt. Nice to know Smallville and I weren't naked again.

I raised my head to see that Clark and I were in the loft. I turned my head towards Smallville in time to see his eyes flutter open.

"Where are we?"

"Your loft."

"Oh, hey, you guys are up."

We turned to see Chloe walking up the stairs, followed by two men dressed in red and green suits.

One of the men flipped off his mask/hood and I was surprised to see it was Bart.

He jerked his thumb towards the taller man behind him. "This is Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern."

Hal waved a hello before Chloe butted in.

"We thought it would be best if you guys didn't show up at the hospital again, so we transported you here."

I nodded before replying in a round-about sort of way. "I have a question."

"Ok, shoot."

"What in the _hell_ is Superman?"

Chloe grinned.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun."

A/N: Well, I think that chapter sucked, but maybe you don't think so.

But if you guys would take the time to review it, that'd be awesome.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** OMG! An update!

**Chapter 6 **(Clark POV)

"I hate you."

Ok, stop. Just a second ago, Lois was fine! She knew my Kryptonian heritage, and everything. And she was_ fine_ with it. Now she hates me?

I looked down at Lois from my position a few feet away on a hill, startled. "What? Why?"

"Because. I've been standing out here for two and a half hours getting fried like a french fry in a deep fryer and with you and all your superpowers and Supermaness; you won't even get any sun."

"Lois, please. With you yapping, I'll never fly."

"Yeah, about that. Why are _we_ doing this again? Why can't you be out here? This doesn't have to involve me."

"Chloe said you were instrumental in my learning to fly."

"Yeah, but she's up in the shade in your loft," Lois mumbled.

"What do you want me to do, Lois? Pull up a tree and re-plant it by you so you can have some shade?" I asked.

Lois' head tiled to the right a little, appraising my annoyed expression with squinted eyes. "You're making fun of me, aren't you? I see how it is. Your parents are nice, but all you are is a mean, evil, conniving boy who thinks he's above helping pregnant women. One of which is your wife."

"Hm...you're right. Maybe I should help you." I paused for a second, pretending to think about it. "Nah."

Lois put a mock look of hurt on her face. "Ah, at least I tried. It _is_ hot out here."

"Yeah, for you, it must be. I can see the sweat on your forehead from here."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Of course you can. You've got mini-telescopes in those eyes of yours."

I scoffed. "No, I mean you're sweating pretty badly, Lois. You're ok, right?"

"Yeah, Clark, I'm ok," she said, but her eyes fluttered for a second and she kind of wobbled before regaining her balance again.

I hopped off the hill I was standing on. "Lois?"

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me. "I got really dizzy for some reason."

"Yeah, I saw that. You sure you're ok?"

"Ye -- no. Maybe we should call it quits until it cools down a bit. That ok with you?"

"Yeah. I don't want you getting dehydrated or anything. You gotta remember that you've got an extra person you've got to think about."

"Yeah..."

"C'mon, Lois. Let's get you back to the barn."

I glanced up to the loft window as we started walking, where two figures stood. One dressed in red and one in green. I didn't know where Chloe was, but I assumed that if she knew what was going on with her cousin, she'd be doing anything she needed to help.

Lois' knees gave way after about ten steps. I scooped her up and cradled her like you would a baby.

She looked at me through drooping lashes. "Thanks, Clark," she said sleepily.

"You're welcome," I said as I held her tighter.

I had waked a few more paces when I felt something jump start in my chest. It was a funny feeling, nothing like physical pain, but something more emotional. It felt like a car...well...being jump started, actually. Like being jolted into reality after an absence of funcitivity. My forehead creased in confusion. I had no idea what it was; I sure wanted to, though.

And then I felt other emotions. The need to hold Lois. To be around her. To care for her.

Like I was currently doing. It made me feel good. It made me feel whole. It made me feel happy.

I looked down at Lois and smiled. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Maybe I could even see how I could fall in love with her. If she'd just let me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"She's just tired and dehydrated," Hal Jordan told me. "Probably a little stressed. And her hormone level is spiked because of the pregnancy. Just make her take it easy for the next couple of days. Make sure she eats and drinks properly and make sure she rests enough."

The green glow that emitted from his ring slid off Lois' form and back to its originator.

"Ok," I said, nodding.

"As soon as she's comfortable enough to travel, we're going back to Metropolis," Chloe told me.

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

"Because, you guys have a tighter security system at your apartment, and I don't want anything happening to you. Besides, Perry must be going crazy without his best three reporters at _The Planet. _I forgot to call him and tell him that we'd be staying a little while longer, and all our cell phones were turned off."

"What about the phone here?"

"We haven't seen one of your parents yet to ask if he's called."

"Why would it matter if...Perry -- wait -- that wouldn't happen to be Perry White would it?"

"Yeah, the guy who came to Smallville when we were in high school."

"Wow. Never pegged that guy to be working at _The Daily Planet_. Anyway, why would it matter if we were at _The Planet_ or not?"

"Cover. We can't make people too suspicious that you're...not yourselves."

"Ah."

"Listen, we'll leave you guys be. Bart and Hal have to check in, anyway." Chloe turned to leave, but stopped in mid turn.

She turned back towards me, taking something out of her pocket in the process.

She handed me a pair of glasses. "Here. You need to wear these. I know you probably won't want to, and I know you don't need to, but you do need to prevent people from thinking you're Superman. The glasses help with that."

I hesitantly took them. "Uh...thanks...I guess."

"I can understand it if you don't want them on around me because you'd be embarrassed or something, but do realize that you'll need them on 24/7 in Metropolis everywhere but you're apartment. You might as well get used to it."

"Ok," I said, nodding, as she exited my loft by way of the stairs.

I fiddled with the glasses for a while, my focus alternating between Lois and the reluctantly half-open glasses that rested in my hands.

I opened the completely and placed them on the bridge of my nose before sliding them completely on.

"Huh. That doesn't look like the Clark Kent I know."

My gaze shifted to Lois through the new (to me) glasses. "Hey, you're awake."

"Yeah. How'd I get here?"

"You…fell asleep, really, although I think it was your body just delaying your passing out. Dehydration or something like that. I'm supposed to take care of you."

She righted herself from her laying position on my couch and swung her legs over the side of the piece of furniture so that she was in a sitting position.

I hesitantly got up from the chair that I had been sitting and placed myself beside her. "I don't know if you should be doing that. You need to relax."

"No. I need to talk to someone, Clark. And seeing as you're the only available person at the moment, you'll have to suffice."

"Talk? About what?"

"Clark, in this time, I may be emotionally ready to take on the task of raising a child with my husband, but I'm nineteen. I'm not married. I'm not pregnant. I'm – we're – stuck in our older self's bodies and we're going to be parents. Like I said before, I don't know that I can deal with that."

"Lois…whatever happens, whether we like it or not, we're a team in this, ok? Even though you or I didn't have a hand in it, that is our child, and we'll take care of it together."

Wooh! Didn't know I had it in me. Ok, so I did mean it, but it still sounded kinda corny.

"Uh…Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"I appreciate the reassurance and all, but…did it have to sound that…fake?"

"Ah, geez. I know it sounded corny, Lois, but I did mean it. It's my kid and I feel responsible for it. Besides, even if we never go back, we'll mature. Besides, we'll reach the same emotional age as when we fell in love with each other before, so it'll just be like history repeating itself. Besides, would it be so bad to be in love with me?"

Lois let her eyes trail over my face before replying. "No…I guess not."

There was silence after her statement, both of us letting what she said sink in.

"What about me?" she asked, breaking the silence.

I grinned at her. "Oh, I don't even have to think about it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." I answered. "Look…Lois, if we can't find our way back, don't you think we should know each other before we take on parenthood?"

Lois looked at me, her eyes calculating. "Ok."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I looked out the loft window at the setting sun, feeling immensely happy.

I had gotten to know Lois Joanne Lane better in the past few hours, just as I hoped she had gotten to know me.

That was one of the things I had found out about her. Her middle name; Joanne – the same initial as my own.

She rooted for the Dodgers.

She hates her feet – thick toenails.

Her father painted her bedroom in giraffes as a little girl in a 'rare moment of tenderness'.

The one car that Lois has never gotten into a wreck in was a Jeep.

The only thing food wise that she won't completely destroy is Vanilla Pudding – which she claims is delicious.

And she hates fruit where it doesn't belong like on fish or as a coffee flavor.

Granted, it wasn't much, but it was a start at what might be the rest of our lives.

I turned around and looked at Lois's sleeping form.

A humungous swelling feeling rose inside my chest, making it hard for me to breathe. It took me a second to realize that I was happy.

I didn't think I'd ever been that happy in my life.

A ringing sounded by the stairs of my loft and I walked over to see what it was.

A cell phone was at the top of the steps, ringing at full blast. I picked it up and flipped it open, curious about whom could be calling a phone that was ownerless.

The caller ID on the screen said 'Chloe' was calling and I immediately pressed the 'Send' button.

"Chloe?" I asked. "Everything all right?"

"Oh, good, Clark, you answered. No, everything's not all right, but we can discuss that in the morning. In the meantime…"

"What, Chloe?"

"Clark…I need you and Lois to sleep together tonight."

My eyes bulged to the size of basketballs. "_What!_"

"Oh, nonono!" Chloe rushed. "Not that way! You need to sleep in the same bed tonight, ok? As in 'Clark doesn't get to sleep on the couch tonight' type of thing, ok?"

"Why?" I managed to choke out.

"Clark," Chloe sighed. "Just trust me on this one, ok?"

"Why?" I repeated.

"Clark, I can't tell you why! It involves the whole thing of 'we can discuss that in the morning' scenario. Just do it, ok?"

A faint click in my ear said that Chloe had hung up on me.

I placed the phone on a nearby table and walked over to Lois.

"Lois," I whispered. "Lois, wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open. "Clark? Whuss wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong…it's just getting late and I want to get you into bed before it gets any later."

"Ok…but don't you want dinner?"

"I don't need to eat, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Lois smiled. "I forgot."

I smiled back at her. "It's ok. Are you hungry?"

Lois scrunched up her nose. "Hell no. My stomach is way too queasy."

"I thought that was just for mornings."

She sub-consciously put her hand to her abdomen. "Apparently this little one doesn't know that."

"Yeah, well with a mother like you," I said, crouching down and scooping her up in one motion, earning a shriek from Lois, "that's a given."

I carried her down the loft stairs, out of the barn, and into the house, only being stopped by my parents' bombardment of 'Congratulations!'.

When we finally arrived at my room the sun had fully set and Lois' eyes started to droop again.

Despite her lack of energy however, she still seemed as sharp as ever. "Clark?"

"Hmmm?"

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"…….."

"Clark?"

"Uh….with you, I guess." I guess. Hah. No guessing about it.

Her eyes grew wide for a moment before shrinking back to their normal size. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah," she responded, cocooning her head deeper into my chest.

I lay her on my bed and slipped off her shoes. "Do you want to change?"

"No, not right now. Too tired."

"Okay," I replied as I walked to the opposite side of the bed.

I paused just before climbing under the covers, hesitant.

Lois seemed to sense my hesitancy because she said, "It's okay, Clark. All we're doing it sleeping."

I slipped my own shoes off and slowly sat down on the bed, causing it to dip.

Lois tugged on my shirt, easing me down on the bed. "If you take that long to get into bed, I'll never get to sleep."

I lay fully down on the bed, drawing the covers up over my body as Lois snuggled into my chest, making herself more comfortable.

"Night, Smallville."

"Night, Lois." I said as I hesitantly snaked my arms around her waist.

She seemed to relax in my embrace somewhat, as if she was safer.

Who knows? Maybe she was.

But I knew one thing for sure – I could definitely get used to this.

**A/N2: **Well…this chapter was pretty much for emotional growth between Lois and Clark, because without it, they can't get where I want them to be ultimately in this story.

Anyway, hope you liked it (I think it royally sucked. I don't think I can write emotions very well) and don't forget to drop a review. ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **I tend to think that Clark's x-ray vision hasn't fully evolved yet in Smallville – once he's an adult, he'll have the x-ray vision as interpreted in the comics and in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Since his body is an adult's in this story, his x-ray vision will not see things as a x-ray machine, but just see through layers to see the real flesh of people and animals and items.

Oh, also, don't expect anything from this chapter. I _hate_ it.

**A/N2:** Oh…also…I _was _going to post this this morning, but my computer acted all funny, so I didn't get to.

* * *

**Chapter 7 **(Lois POV) 

It was far too hot. Even for Kansas – which was almost in the heart of the west – it was far too hot. In the past few weeks that I had stolen Clark's bed, I had never gotten overheated like I was now.

I tried to throw the covers off myself, but I couldn't move.

Ok, so I guess I _could_ move, but my arms were extremely restricted. So I guess I could move about a centimeter. How does that count?

I raised my head to look around and see why.

My eyes fell upon a mess of black hair and the past day (had it really only been a day!) came rushing back.

Clark, apparently, was the reason I couldn't move.

His left arm was slung over my waist, pinning my right arm to my side. Coincidentally, my left arm was under Clark's torso with equally no escape in sight. They were both going numb.

One of his legs was slung over both of mine, pinning them to the mattress; kicking the covers off wasn't an option.

I was on the verge of trying to wake him up by any means that I was capable of when I realized that his head was resting on my chest.

It wasn't so much the whereabouts of his thick skull as that he wasn't on the other side of the bed. It made me feel…wanted…even though he _was_ asleep.

All of a sudden, the man lying on top of me snorted and flopped his body over onto his back.

His head however stayed right where it had been.

Finally free, I sprang out of the bed before he could roll over on me again.

As I rubbed feeling back into my arms, I watched my husband.

Whoa…

Where the hell did that come from?

But when I took a second – actually, it was more like five minutes – to think about it, I came to the conclusion that being in love with Clark Kent, being married to Clark Kent, even having children with the man that was now lying a few in the bed a few feet away from me seemed plausible.

I smiled, – I don't know what possessed me –bent down to where my face was level with his, and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

Blushing furiously, I hastily retreated to the bathroom.

I was in the process of splashing water on my face, trying to convince myself that the kiss that had just happened in the next room over was a moment of insanity when the nausea hit.

Two seconds later I was kneeled in front of the toilet, leaving the water still running.

I felt the bile rise in my throat and for the next few minutes all I could focus on was that Clark should have been there with me doing…something, even if I didn't know what that 'something' should have been.

It was his child, too.

I was finally able to step from the porcelain bowl that seemed to hate me five minutes later.

I had flushed the toilet and was in the middle of washing my face when something by the bathroom door shrouded in shadows caught my eye and startled me.

I took a closer look and realized that it looked like Clark.

"Smallville," I sighed. "You scared me."

"Who's Smallville?" he asked.

Something wasn't right, though. One, he wouldn't ask 'who's Smallville'. He knew. And two, his voice was too high. Like he'd just got kicked in the balls or something.

"Clark?"

"Not quite," he said, stopping out of the shadows.

My breath caught in my throat and my heart-rate sped up.

"Nick?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"The one and only," he told me, smirking. "I told you I'd find you again, babe."

"Oh, shit," I breathed.

"You got that right," he said, and before I could blink his fist was making contact with the side of my head.

I collapsed on the tiled floor of the bathroom wondering why Clark wasn't there.

And then I slipped out of consciousness.

* * *

"Lois!" 

I sat up in a cold sweat, Clark's bed firmly under me.

"What?" I asked, my eyes adjusting to the darkness.

"You had a dream. From the way you were thrashing around, I'd say it was a nightmare."

Boy, he had no idea.

"Why is it so dark?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"It's 1 AM. Do you want some light?" Clark climbed out of bed and switched the room light on before coming back to sit by me.

"You okay?" he asked. "Do you need anything?"

I shrugged. I wasn't about to say that I needed him.

"I'll get you some orange juice," he said standing up.

"No!" I cried, grabbing his hand. "Don't leave me!"

He sat down beside me again and gathered me in his arms.

"It's okay. I'm right here," he whispered in my ear. He laid a delicate kiss on the top of my head.

"I'm right here," he repeated softly. "I'm right here. I'll never leave you."

We stayed like that all night, only getting out of bed for me to puke my guts up. It seems I couldn't get out of that, dream or no dream.

He would shift positions every now and then but he seemed to know that even that bothered me; I didn't want him to leave, no matter what he promised.

He did get up to shut off the light around 4:00 AM, but he saw how tense I had gotten and hadn't made a move to even look like he was leaving since.

I remembered dozing off just as the sun was peaking over Clark's windowsill.

* * *

Clark's voice is a very nice sound to wake up to, I'd decided after I was lucid enough to realize that I had woken up in a car. 

I stretched and looked around me, squinting when my eyes met the sun's harsh glare.

My eyes darted away from the sun and toward the clock -- 7:36 -- before resting on Clark.

He was intently staring at the road but talking all the while to the air.

"Telling your life story to the road?" I asked dryly.

He took his eyes off the road long enough to give me one of the dazzling Kent smiles before turning them back to his previous fixation.

"Nope," he said brightly. "Just talking to him."

"Him?" I asked.

"Yeah. The life force that is currently residing in your stomach."

"Uterus," I said, correcting him.

"Huh?" he asked, confused.

"My uterus. The fetus doesn't grow in the stomach."

"Oh," he said, his cheeks reddening.

"Oh, come _on_," I said. "You can _not_ be embarrassed by that."

Clark looked bashful and forced all his attention on the road.

"Men," I said, rolling my eyes. "Where are we now?"

"Just a little south of Central City," Clark said, looking relieved to have left the previous conversation behind.

"How much longer?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Chloe says things have gotten more congested in the past few years, so traffic will be thicker and slower than we're used to."

"Okay," I said and yawned, my jaw cracking.

"Go back to sleep, Lois. I can go without, but you lost about six hours last night."

"Fine," I said.

He stuck out his hand and when I slipped mind into his, he placed a light kiss on it. We both blushed.

When he started to draw it away, I tightened my grip on it and tugged it towards me.

A smile threatened at the corners of his lips as I snuggled up to the leather seat, taking his hand and placing it on my abdomen before wrapping my own hand around his again.

My last thought before sleep claimed me was that I loved him.

* * *

He was talking again. Like he had been before, he was staring at the road, talking amiably to seemingly no one. 

I knew better, now, though. He was talking to…it.

Should I even be calling it a…'it'? Oh well. I didn't know its gender yet, did I?

And Smallville was _still_ talking.

And then I realized what he was talking about. It wasn't its life story he was spilling. It was his feel – whoa.

Holy crap.

I sat up in my seat faster than allowed for a pregnant woman. "What?"

Clark's eyes widened in surprise, and he said, "Lois. I didn't know you were awake."

"Heh. Yeah, I can see that. Do you make a habit of spilling your heart out to your children?" I asked, my heart rate rapidly picking up.

Clark sputtered for a moment, his eyes shifting rapidly between Lois and the road. "I…uh…I mean, that is…I…"

I nodded. "I see. It's all so clear."

Clark cheeks flamed. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

Clark grimaced. "Even the part about --"

"Yeah. Even that part."

"Crap."

"You think?"

Clark shrugged. "I guess. You've seemed very…estranged from emotions, Lois. I just…don't want to scare you."

I didn't respond – I didn't know how to; he was right.

Silence fell – one of those awkward ones; the ones that I'm uncomfortable with.

He shifted in his seat slightly, apparently mulling over in his mind what to say next. "We stopped earlier while you were still asleep," he said, motioning toward the cup holders. "I got coffee."

I nodded and grabbed the cup nearest me. "Good. Coffee is good."

I painstakingly watched the clock change from 9:43 to 9:46. The silence was deafening.

"Clark…you didn't scare me. Well, for a second you did. No one's really ever felt that way about me before. But…I'm not really scared. It just…shocked me. That's all."

"So…you're okay with this, then?"

"It'll…take some getting used to. But…Clark…when I fell asleep this last time…I thought…well…I thought 'I love him'."

I felt the car's front wheels turn to a 90 degree angle before Clark righted them again. "Lois…"

"Clark, I'm serious. I'm not just saying that because you told the air that."

"Not the air," he said indignatently. "Our son."

"Yeah…well – Hey, what makes you say he's gonna be a boy?"

Clark blushed.

I gasped. "You _didn't_!"

He fidgeted in his seat.

"You _did_! You're evil, you know that?" I asked, shaking my finger at him in mock anger.

"Shamefully so," he told me, his face burning.

I glared at him for another moment before returning to our previous conversation. Once again, he looked relieved for the change. "Anyway, Clark, I'm serious."

"Lois, I know you are. But…don't you think this is all going so incredibly fast? We've been here for a day and we're declaring our everlasting love for each other, when the day before, we were _just_ getting to know each other. It's too fast."

"This coming from _you_?" I asked. "The one who was convinced that, two days ago, he was destined to have a never-ending love with Lana Lang?"

"I _never_ said that."

"But you sure as hell thought it."

"How would you know, Lois? Do you have ESP?"

"No, but you're as easy to read as a book."

"Yeah," Clark said sarcastically. "And leprechauns are agents of the IRA."

I nodded. "I know they are. And thank you for believing me. Alligators live in the sewers, as well."

Clark continued, "Lois…I just…this isn't normal. I _want_ to love you, but I don't know if I'm allowed."

"Allowed? _Allowed_? God, Clark, you're aloud to feel whatever the hell you want to! No one on Earth can stop you, no matter who you are - alien, human, man, woman, child or elder. No one can change what goes on in your mind."

He stared at the road for a long minute before responding. "Sure they can, Lois. If they tell you that you're wrong enough, or that you're in love with a certain girl, you eventually begin to believe it."

What the hell was he talking about? He had as much free will…as….oh.

"People told you that you loved Lana, so you believed it?"

Clark shrugged as he switched lanes on the highway, following directly behind what I assumed was Chloe's SUV. "Maybe, maybe not. I know that at one time, my genuine feelings for her were a childhood crush. And, yeah, it lasted longer than most would. But I have a feeling that if people didn't say so much that I was in love with Lana, I might have gotten over what I thought was supposed to be."

"When, exactly, do you have time to psychoanalyze yourself?"

He shrugged. "My brain runs faster than yours. I have much more time to think, let alone time to actually do things."

"Huh. That's…very…. informative."

Clark chuckled. "I should hope so."

I shrugged. "What was I supposed to say?"

I realized that we were straying what I had intended to talk about when the cell phone on Clark's belt rang.

He jumped momentarily before answering it with a, "Hello?"

"Goddamit, Kent! Do you want to give me a heart attack?" It was the same voice that had woken me up earlier yesterday morning

Clark had developed what was the 'deer in the headlights look'. "Uh…I…I mean, that is –"

"Look, Kent, I know you have the social skills of a llama, but can you at least try and communicate?"

"Sure, Mr.…Mr.…"

"White, son. It's Perry White, your editor. Have you suffered a memory lapse?"

Clark cleared his throat. "No. Why do you ask?"

There was silence on the line lasted for all of two minutes. "Kent…"

"Yessir?"

"Just…never mind…when are you going to get here?"

"I don't know, Mr. White. You might want to call Chloe – she'd know."

"Right…. give Lois my love. You be safe, you hear?"

"Yessir."

There was a grunt on the line before it went dead; Clark looked from me to the phone. "We work for _him_?"

I chuckled. "He was the one who woke me up yesterday morning."

"So if he hadn't, you're saying that I might have woken up naked…in bed…with you?"

"Yep."

"Damn. _So_ close," he said with a teasing tone in his voice.

I gasped, pretending to be shocked. "I'm astounded at your barbaric behavior, Mr. Kent. I would expect to treat your pregnant wife with better manners!"

Clark smirked at me. "You keep using that against me, don't you? That's evil, that is."

"Well, that makes two of us. I hope it doesn't run in the family."

"Look, Lois," he said to me without taking his eyes off the road, "I know you and your cousin are rotten to the core, but seriously. You don't have to blame it on genetics."

"Okay, then," I told him, rolling my eyes, "That makes three of us."

"Don't blame Lucy for anything, either."

"Fine then, four!"

Clark looked at me for a moment innocently. "Who's the fourth?"

"You, dammit!"

Clark laughed at my apparent agitation. "Me? _Me_? No, Lois, I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm the saintly hero, remember?"

I snorted. "Right. And I'm a superwoman."

Clark shrugged. "That's cool. We could make it a family business."

I let my head fall against the window. "You're _impossible_!"

Clark flashed one of his blinding smiles as he switched lanes again. "I know. Isn't it great?"

"No," I mumbled, causing the window to mist up.

"Oh, come on, Lois! Lighten up a little bit. You should be back in your element! But instead you're moping. What's wrong?"

"Hormones."

"You women and your hormones. Is that your only excuse?"

"Our most valid one."

Clark laughed again. "Oh, how I love you, Lois."

I smiled at him. "I love you too."

Clark froze. "I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

I laughed. "Yeah. You want to take it back?"

He blushed and mumbled something inaudible.

I started to grin again and ask him to speak up, but a thought struck me – we had just said that we loved each other and we were _joking_ about it. How could we do that?

I closed my eyes and everything came rushing back - I was going to be a mother, Clark and I had no clue why we were here, Chloe's unusual reaction to Lex and the unusual memory flashbacks that Clark and I were having.

How could life be so perfect one minute and then be shit the next?

* * *

**A/N3:** Uhm….a review would be nice, if it's not too much trouble. I don't think a review is worth this chapter, but it would do wonders for my confidence. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 (Clark POV)

_It was our wedding. OUR wedding. Meaning that either Lois and I _actually_ got married, or somebody had the power to manipulate our memories. Everyone we knew was there—Chloe, Bart, Lana, Pete, my mom and dad, Lucy and the General._

_Well, almost everyone. Lex wasn't there. But considering the way that Chloe had acted towards his arrival at the hospital yesterday, I wasn't surprised._

_Was this really only the second day of this fiasco? It all seemed so surreal. _

_Looking around me, I realized, really, for the first time, that I had no clue where Lois was._

_My counterpart wasn't in the room yet, nor was my dad. I saw an eye appear for a quick moment behind the door, before it disappeared and the door eased shut. Finding nothing better to do, I walked towards the door; when I reached it, I opened it and slipped inside. I don't know why I 'slipped', however. They wouldn't have noticed I was there – 'they' never did. It was like I was living in a dream, or something – no, scratch that. It was like those shows that you saw when characters went under hypnosis._

_The men in the room – my dad and myself – were sitting uncomfortably in our tuxedos; the chairs creaked with every slight movement of the body._

"_Dad?" 'I' asked. "Why am I so nervous?"_

_Jonathan took a deep breath, collecting his breath before theorizing._

"_I mean," 'I' continued, "I've been with Lois...Lois and I have been together for the past four years. We've _lived_ together for the past five. I know her, dad, more intimately that most couples going into a relationship would. We traveled the world together – learned about my past together. We've done nothing apart since she saved my life. Dad…we even slept together when we weren't in a relationship."_

_At Jonathan's choked expression (and mine as well), my older counterpart rushed to explain. "No, Dad, I mean…just sleep -- Purely innocent. No sex involved. Probably, that's when Lana decided that I was a cheat, although she never specified. I just…we both found comfort in each other that we couldn't find in our significant others. It took us a year of living with failed relationships – and living _together_ to see that maybe 'we' as a couple was even possible. And then…we transferred our classes to correspondence online and…just…went places. We found the three stones, deciphered the _true_ meaning of Jor-El's message…hell, we got our college degrees together. I can't think of one thing, significant or not, that we have done apart. At first, it scared the both of us. Who has heard of a relationship where both people in a relationship need each other like a drug? Literally, dad. We were – are – addicted to each other. At first we were almost concerned. It can't be healthy, but…we talk a lot Lois and I. Just talk. We talk about everything – life in general, specific things, things that are troubling us…whatever we want to, really. We came to our own conclusion that maybe we just weren't comfortable with the rest of the world. So what if we copied each other? Dad, sometimes we were so in sync that our _heartbeats _are the same. We make a whole person; Lois is impatient, I'm patient. She's fierier that I am-- there's _so_ many more traits that both of us have that to everyone else would make us unmanageable. But to each other…we're perfect. In my eyes, Lois has no faults. I know that's naïve of me, but…it's just how our relationship works. Now, if I think she's wrong in a decision, I'll express my feelings, but…dad, we've never gotten in a fight. Ever. And that scares me. Isn't it healthy for that to happen? But Lois and I we're so connected that it just…doesn't happen. But Lois and I have come to the conclusion, like I said earlier, that we're just…connected, and that we aren't comfortable with the rest of the world…but we're perfect with each other. There's no real way to describe what we have, actually. We're just so perfectly comfortable with our relationship, how we feel, and we both trust each other so inexplicably. I love her, Dad. _So_ much that it can't be put into words. Which brings me back to my question – why am I nervous? We've been married – although not legally – by definition of the word for the past four years. Why am I so goddamn nervous?"_

_I was stunned. Is this what Lois and I were going to have? Was it even possible to be that connected with someone?_

_My counterpart took a deep breath before speaking again – "No, I'm not nervous. I don't know what this is, but it's not anything negative."_

_Pete ducked his head inside the room, "Jonathan, Martha wants you out here now." _

_The older version of myself stood up and started to follow Pete, but a voice stopped him. "Clark."_

_He turned around and faced my – our – dad. "Yeah?"_

_Jonathan placed a hand on Clark's shoulder. "Six years ago, when Lois came into our lives, Martha was so happy. She was convinced, despite all your bickering, that your soul mate was finally in your life, and that you would be happy. I, for one, thought that she was absolutely insane. But, maybe there were some things that your mother could see that I couldn't; the things both of you hid. Then, as soon as you seemed to form some sort of friendship, you were dating Lana. I, honestly, expected for you to marry her, as did most of Smallville at the time. It seemed that things kept happening so fast in your life – one minute you were dating Lana Lang, the next you were best friends with Lois, and then, finally, Lana and you had split up, leading Lois and you to your decision to leave. The next time we heard from you was a post card, and when Martha had gotten all excited (it seemed to me to be over nothing) and wouldn't tell me what, I was so incredibly confused. Then, we finally got a telephone call from you, after three years of postcards. You said you were getting married. I, at first, disapproved – after all, it seemed to me that it was on a whim. Nothing had been mentioned of this sort…ever. Your mother told me 'Nonsense. They've been living together for the past three years. It hasn't been on a whim at all.' I still wasn't convinced that you weren't – both you and Lois – completely out of your minds. But with your monologue a minute ago, I can truly see that you love her and that you would go to the lengths of the earth and back for her; that doesn't even begin to describe what you two have. You're a man now, Clark, and I'm proud of who you've become. You and Lois will have bad times, it's almost inevitable. But I have faith that you will be okay. Because if you aren't, then there's no hope for the rest of the world."_

'_I' smiled. "Thanks Dad."_

_Jonathan wrapped his son in a bear hug. "It sounds like I have to go talk to your mother. Will you be okay alone_?_"_

"_Yeah, now I will."_

_Clark grinned and jerked opened the door and let his dad walk through before closing it._

_But I was glued to the spot, stunned. My father had actually approved of my love life? And…would Lois and I _really_ have that? I thought I loved Lois now, but compared to what I might have with her in the future…well, it was safe to say that it was just a crush. In fact, it was eerily parallel to the feelings that I had (hopefully shared) for Lana._

_My musings were interrupted by myself literally walking through me – a very strange experience, because I had no feeling of it at all. I spun on my heel and followed him (he went through yet another door and wandered a few halls) until he arrived at an entrance and knocked lightly._

_The door was jerked open, followed by a double, "Clark!"_

_One Lois scurried out the door and latched on to my arm, while the other shrieked and ducked out of sight._

_My Lois tugged on my arm, "Oh my GOD, Clark…it's a nightmare. She's…just…AHH! And look who she's getting married to!"_

"_Lois, that's me…"_

"_I _know,_ that's the point!"_

"_Hey! What happened to our big long conversation? About the baby, you, and me? In the car?"_

_Lois laughed nervously. "That never happened."_

"_But Lois, we-"_

_She gave me a pointed look. "Never. Happened.""_

_I groaned in frustration. Some things would never change. "Whatever you say, Lois."_

_"Good. Anyway, like I was saying. It's completely disgusting. "_

_Lois' eyes bugged out as she turned back to our older pair. "Holy shit."_

_Okay, so maybe turning to see yourselves making out up against a door in the middle of who-knows-what church _is_ a little traumatic, but I still think Lois would be a completely convincing actress – make millions and all that._

_But then, maybe the idea of her and I like that is just completely and utterly revolting. Did I _dream_ all of that? Because she actually liked the idea…I thought she had, anyway._

_But then, I do recall Chloe telling me once that she tends to snub guys she likes…but…oh, hell, I don't know…this whole situation is just so damn confusing. I _hate_ this type of stuff…not being able to find out what's happened to me…but, then again, most of my life is like that, so I don't know why I'm not used to it yet._

_My eyes drifted from the floor back to our lip locked counterparts just as everything decided to turn white._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

My eyes popped open to complete blackness. My arms were wrapped around…Lois. We were where we were when we fell asleep. I glanced to the clock – two AM.

Oh, boy…. it was a _long_ time until morning. I wrapped my arms tighter around Lois and buried by head in her hair…she smelled good…and…

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The next time I woke, Chloe was hovering over me. "Hey," she said in a hushed tone.

I blinked the blurriness away from my eyes. "Chloe? What's up?"

She immediately put her finger to her lips in the universal sign of 'Shush' and pointed a few feet away from my head. I followed her finger and my eyes rested on Lois, who was, unsurprisingly, still sleeping.

"I don't want to wake her. Change into some clean clothes, and come on down. There's someone here I want you to meet."

As Chloe softly walked out, I eased out of bed. Picking a random shirt out of my closet, I threw it on. I cast one last look at Lois to make sure she was comfortable before leaving my room. The only light on in the house was the kitchen, I noticed as I trotted down the stairs; a glance outside told me it couldn't be before six o'clock.

Upon entering the kitchen, soft voices ceased, and Chloe got up from her seat at the island. "Clark, this is Kitty Faulkner, from S.T.A.R. Labs in Metropolis. I've called her in to help solve why you can't remember anything of the past few years."

I cast Chloe a sharp glance – after all, it wasn't the fact of _remembering_, but of getting back to our own time – before turning my attention to Ms. Faulkner.

She stuck her hand out to me. "Hi, Clark."

I grasped her hand, shaking it. "Ms. Faulkner."

"How are you?"

"I could be much better."

She smiled. "That's what I'm here for. Now – Chloe has filled me in on everything and since Shockwave hasn't detected anything out of the ordinary for Smallville, or anywhere else, including a rift in the time-space continuum, I seriously doubt that you are the Clark of 2005. The same goes for Lois. All it is most likely is an advanced form of amnesia. All the 'visions' you seem to be having just seem to be your body's way of recovering your memories, but I don't know why you're seeing it in a third person point of view. And I don't know why, scientifically, that both you and Lois are seeing them together. But, from a romantic's point of view…Chloe told me that you and Lois share a special connection that she hasn't seen in anyone. That might be why. Your REM patterns were off the charts last night -- meaning you dreamt something important to you. That's why Chloe and I wanted you to sleep together. If you had subconscious problems, you'd be most relaxed around a loved one, and you'd figure it out in your sleep. And as for _how_ you got this way…. well, I have no idea."

"So…you're saying that I just don't remember anything? That's it? The whole story?"

"Yes, it seems to be that way."

"Well, for all the trouble we've been through, that's lame."

Chloe spoke up. "Clark, she also thinks that in time, you'll get all your memories back…but in what time span, she has no idea."

I started to reply when a sleepy voice sounded behind me. "What's going on?"

I turned to Lois with a grin on my face. "You'd never guess."

_Epilogue -- Ten Years Later_

Lois smiled as she looked out of her French doors into the backyard (if it could be called that) that she and Clark had with their home in Metropolis. Cory, their ten-year-old son, was getting ready to jump off the top of the slide, pretending to be Superman; their seven-year-old daughter, Liz (short for Elizabeth) was gallivanting all over the place, waving her arms in the air, pretending to block invisible bullets with invisible silver bracelets that were supposed to be on her wrists.Lois hoped she was playing Wonder Woman. And their cousin, Erin, was laughing mercilessly at Cory as he fell flat on his face, coming out of character of her character as another superhero long enough to make fun of her cousin.

She was so absorbed in watching her children (and niece) that she was startled by a pair of arms snaking their way around her waist.

"Hey," Clark said.

She smiled and gave a warm "Hey" in return.

They both fell into silence, watching their loved ones.

Finally, ten minutes later, Lois turned around in Clark's arms. "We did good, didn't we?"

Clark flashed one of his smiles that sent shivers down Lois' spine. "Yeah. We did good."

He proceeded to capture her lips with his own, and if he had had his _super_ hearing turned on, he would have heard two cries of "_Eyeew!_ _That's so groooss!" _coming from the backyard.

End

Yes, it's REALLY the end this time.

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**A/N: Thanks _sosososososososo_ much first and foremost to the readers. This would be sitting on chapter 1 if it wasn't for you guys. And secondly, thanks to my beta Erin. Sometimes, you're a saint. Thirdly, thank you to Liz, you always kept me thinking, even if it wasn't specifically about this. Thanks to my best friend Sam (although she's slacked lately) for pestering me – without you, honestly, this would never have been written. Remember that promise I made when it would be finished by term? Well, here ya go -- just like I promised.**

**Even if I don't get a lot of reviews this chapter, that's okay. I've finally finished! Hope ya enjoy, guys (and girls) and I hope this is a sufficient enough Christmas present for you folks that celebrate it, and those that don't, well, I still hope you enjoy it.**

**Happy Holidays (this includes New Years and my birthday – yes, that IS a self plug)**


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